


The New Normal

by Vexed_Wench



Series: The New Normal [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Age Regression, Community: samdean_otp, Domestic, Family, M/M, Sam/Dean Mini-Bang Challenge 2012
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-30
Updated: 2012-10-30
Packaged: 2017-11-17 08:55:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/549812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vexed_Wench/pseuds/Vexed_Wench
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam makes a bargain with Gabriel to have Dean and Cas safely returned from Purgatory.He didn't realize how much that bargain would cost them all. Sam struggles to accepts their new lives as lovers raising the fallen angles turned toddlers as their own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The New Normal

**Author's Note:**

> I was lucky enough to have Kiramaru polish this for me. As well as having clex_monkie89  
> do the fabulous art work here.  
> http://clex-monkie89.livejournal.com/934944.html#t7398432
> 
> Go check it out and leave some love.

Sam stared at the spot where Crowley had stood just moments before. He wondered why the self-proclaimed King of Hell kidnapping the only known prophet hadn’t surprised him. A small part of him knew it went too easy with him. Crowley always had a knack for working things to his advantage. Sam belatedly realized that they spent more time worrying about Dick, that he forgot that he couldn’t trust Crowley. He could only hope that Crowley needed Kevin badly enough not to kill him. He hoped Crowley would spend the time trying to buy the boy over to his side.

Sam had faith that Crowley would treat Kevin well in hopes of keeping him loyal to him. He was a demon with fine taste, as he reminded them often. He hoped Kevin would be strong enough to resist temptation. Sam worried about that, being an overachiever would make it harder to not try. Sam remembered some of the people he had been to school with over the years, and had seen them work themselves until they drop. From what he had seen of Kevin, he didn't seem much different.

He saw how much Kevin cared about people, when he demanded they destroy the mutated creamers. He was worried that the technology could fall into the wrong hands. Sam doubted many people would have stood up to them the way Kevin had. He would have never thought a scrawny high school kid could be so gutsy. He had seen bigger men back down over less. He hoped the boy would remain that strong against Crowley.

Sam shook his head to clear his thoughts. He really didn’t have time to sit and worry about things he couldn’t change. Sam quickly made his way to the Impala, he was glad Crowley kept his word about it being in running order. He was still surprised that Dean had allowed Meg to drive it, even if only for the few moments it took to crash into the sign. Sam thought that was a sure sign his brother’s drinking was out of control. Dean would rather break a limb than hurt his baby. When he saw Dean hand the keys over to Meg, Sam had waited for the ‘hold me, Sammy, I am going to be sick’ cracks. Dean had never even made one; Sam knew that no matter what the outcome was, he would do whatever it took to get his brother the help he needed. Drying Dean out couldn’t be much harder than when Dean had gotten him the demon blood. There was real research Sam could do to help Dean. Having a drinking problem was a normal enough thing to deal with. Hell, he would quit right along with Dean. He would go to the A.A. meetings and anything else Dean needed.

Sam decided when he finally got Dean home that they would start working through all of their problems. They had spent so many years trying to shield each other from secrets and pain; they had yet to learn it just hurt them worse in the end. His mind wandered to all of his own failings over the years. This one time he would learn from all of those mistakes. He would be strong enough to fix whatever happened to Dean and Cas. He would do whatever it took to make things right for all of them. Sam swore once more that he would not let them down. He was starting to realize that he owed Dean more than he could ever repay.

Some days he wondered why Dean ever forgave him. He reminded himself that he needed to keep his head in the game. Sam knew that if he got lost thinking about all the things that had happened over the years, he would never get anything done.

He figured that if anyone was still watching him, they would expect him to be a blubbering mess by now. Sam had heard what people said about them. That he and Dean couldn’t survive without each other. That wasn’t entirely accurate; they just never survived well without the other one. Sam assumed it was too many years of just having each other to rely on. He thought it must have been some fucked up version of a Stockholm syndrome. It wasn’t until he went to Stanford that he realized how different he and Dean were from everyone else.

He could never imagine having a relationship with Dean where they only talked twice a month and saw each other on holidays. He had spent so much of his youth, wishing for a normal life with all the normal things the other kids had, and had wasted a lot of time being jealous of silly things like birthday parties and trips to see Santa when he was small. It always seemed like the other kids had something that he could never be a part of.

He recalled one year when he was really little and they had a mother’s day lunch in school. It had been a big deal, all everyone could talk about. Sam was confused about the concept. It was the end of the school year, and everyone was just looking for another reason to have a party Dean had explained to him.

Sam just couldn't understand why the mothers had a lunch, it's not like they did anything anyways. Sam thought the memory stuck with him because it was the first time he ever saw Dean look like he would cry when no one was bleeding.

Sam could still remember Dean explaining why they had the greatest mom ever. That it wasn’t her fault she couldn’t be with them. That she would have loved to have gone to the lunch. He had spent the day telling Sam stories about when she was still alive and all the things she had done with him.

Dean had told him about all the afternoons he had talked to Sammy in her belly. Dean went on to tell him that he knew Sammy was special before he finally got the chance to meet him and how their mom had told him how important it was to be a good big brother. That Sammy would learn more from Dean than anyone else. It was a big brother’s job to show the little brother how to act, and almost as important Dean would have to watch out for Sammy. His brother had told him a lot of stories that he could tell his class about their mom. It had been a fun day after all. He could still remember his teacher asking him how he remembered her so well.

He had proudly told her, ‘Dean helps me remember her. Dean knows everything ‘bout everything. He takes care of me.’ Sam remembered how Mrs. Johnson quietly excused herself and returned to class a few moments later with Dean. Sam also remembered how happy he was to see his brother. Everyone in his class was so jealous of him. Even back then, Dean was cooler than the other kids. The mothers all thought he was so special and darling. Dean, being Dean, ate the attention from the women up even back then. Mrs. Johnson said Dean deserved a slice of cake as much as any of the mothers there, and they had agreed. It was a fun afternoon, one of the many where Dean made things better for him. Sam had just been too spoiled back then to realize all Dean had done for him. Hell, all Dean still did for him. That would all end now, Sam reminded himself.

Things will be different this time, he vowed to himself.This time they will make their version of normal work for them. They both had tried their hand at ‘society’s version of normal’. They had both failed miserably at it too. Sam had tried his best in school and it just never fully clicked. He spent too much time worried about the next call from home. He had always known in the back of his mind that one of them would call, or God forbid Bobby calling, to tell him he really was an orphan now. Sam made sure he kept his old phone paid up, even if he had buried it in his bag. He charged the battery once a month just to check his messages. 

He had no doubt he would have married Jessica, if Dean hadn’t come looking for him. He also knew that he would have spent the rest of his days worrying about Dean, and their dad. It seemed unlikely that Jess would have still been alive even if Dean had never come back into his life. When Sam found out about Brady, he realized that. He was sick of being a pawn in the fucked up chess match of the angels and demons.

How was either of them supposed to make a life when they were destined to lose? How was that fair to the people in their lives? There was no way they could have protected their lovers when they never even knew about the dangers.

Dean did a better job at having a relationship. He got points for everyone he spent time with still being alive, and unlike Brady, not one demon in the bunch. Dean just never gave himself enough credit. Sam was willing to bet that if Dean had stuck around after the disastrous fight with Cassie, he could have gotten her to see the light. She would have no doubt taken him back. Dean was a great catch. Lisa must’ve thought so to take him in when he was a complete mess after Sam was locked in the cage. A small part of Sam wondered if he had been selfishly pulling Dean back into the life. Sam knew that Lisa must have really loved his brother, to take him in and help him get back on his feet. He had vague memories of checking up on Dean long before he finally made contact with his older brother. He could justify watching Dean fall apart from the sidelines because of the fact that he had no soul.

Looking back now, he saw that even without his soul, he was still drawn to Dean. Sam later realized that it must mean they were more entwined with one another than even they knew. Although, Sam thought Dean knew, why else would he keep throwing his life away to make Sam happy?

Sam just hoped it would help him find the strength to go to purgatory and bring him back if this plan failed. He quickly pushed those thoughts away. He thought it best to concentrate on the plan at hand, before he got all emo over the last ditch hope. Besides, the fucker better come through, after all the shit he put them through, he owed them, Sam bitterly thought.

Sam spotted a supermarket and quickly parked the Impala so he could shop for provisions. He wandered around the store, picking up assorted sweets, not really paying attention to what he was buying. He took his phone and started to dial Becky, but he just couldn’t hit the send button. He thought he should file her away as plan C. Even the awfulness of plan B was better than a five minute call to Becky.

He picked up enough candy to make a neighborhood of trick-or-treaters happy. He made his way to the bakery aisle and filled his cart with cakes, doughnuts, and every pastry he saw.

His hand shook when he picked up a cherry pie; he thought it would be in bad taste to get pies without Dean. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that the pies would just serve as a reminder for what he was doing. So he grabbed cherry, apple, peach and a berry one too. He decided against the Boston cream pie as well as the cheesecakes; he was worried about not have a way to keep them cold. 

Sam decided to toss all of the cookies into his overflowing shopping cart, instead. He looked down at his overflowing cart and decided that he may as well stock up on drinks. On his way to the soft drink aisle, he spied bags of caramel corn and thought that it would go nicely with his sugar fest.

 

He handed over one of the few credit cards they had left. He just hoped the available balance would be enough for a cheap room for as long as he needed it. He noticed the cashier giving him odd looks; he knew the cart o’ crap looked unhealthy and maybe just a bit suspicious. He barely blinked at the obscene tally he signed for. He did manage to find out where the cheap motels are in the area. That information came with a whole new set of odd looks.

Sam drove past the seedy little strip of motels the girl had hesitantly told him about. The more he thought about it,the more he realized that the usual crap rooms would not be helpful. If he was trying to get Castiel it would have been fine, but this was not Cas he was trying to force to appear. A quick double check of his wallet made him realize that the top of the line hotels were out of the question as well.

Luck was on his side, he found a Holiday Inn with a decent price. Dean would point out that it was not worth the extra cash. That one room was as good as the next. All you need is a bed, a bathroom, and cable with unscrambled ‘Casa Erotica’ was a bonus, but the rest is just extra. Winchester men didn’t need any extra, they were tough men. Sam knew the speech; he had heard many times over the years. He had to admit Dean was right that some of the cheap motel rooms beat the hell out of some of the houses John had found them.

Sam let himself into the room. He had talked the clerk into giving him one of the less desirable rooms, by claiming a migraine from the long drive. Most people didn’t want to be tucked away in the back further from the amenities. He wasn’t sure what exactly was going to happen, but he thought it would be better to be as far away from the other rooms as he could be.

Sam stared at the room. He had to admit Dean may have had a point; the room really wasn’t that much better than what they usually rented. It was a hell of a lot cleaner though. Sam stowed his bag on his bed by the bathroom.

Dean wasn’t even here and Sam couldn’t break that habit. Even when they were separated, he still felt funny sleeping in the bed that wasn’t his. He always felt like Dean would come through the door at any moment and dump his ass on the floor if he slept in it. To get a good night’s sleep, he always used Dean’s bed for storage. He figured he had too many years of conditioning to fight it.His brother had drilled it in his head since he was a little kid that the bed by the bathroom was his for a reason. As the older brother, it was his job to guard the door and Sammy.

He stared at the beds; two queens. The sight of them made him miss Dean. It was bad enough in the Impala without him during the drive here. At least in the car he could convince himself Dean was back in their room. Even though he didn’t really buy that, he tried to convince himself anyways. Like how he wanted to go grab Dean’s duffel and bring it in. Would that make him less pathetic or more, he wondered. Maybe having Dean’s belongings around, might help with the half assed ritual he had cooking up in his head. Sam wished again there was one for what he wanted, but he had yet to find one. The one long shot he found would have to do.

 

He vowed that when he finally got Dean back where he belonged, he was never going to take his eyes off his brother again. He had to remind himself that he should amend that to include Cas as well. He couldn’t forget about everything Castiel had done for them over the years. He could still hold a grudge that Cas broke his wall. He just couldn’t stay angry with him. Sam felt that when he took his hallucinations from him that Cas had wiped the slate clean. Sam had to admit he knew what it was like to do the worst things for the best reasons. He couldn’t very well blame Cas for trying to fix his mess by himself. How many times had he fucked up doing that very thing?

He grabbed a Coke and a bag of caramel corn and settled on Dean’s bed. Sam pulled his laptop close to him and opened a buried document he made, before the mess with the Leviathan started consuming their lives. He read the ancient words aloud. He knew there was no guarantee that his plea would be answered. The best he could hope for was that his words would be heard. He was just thankful that he had kept the prayer, even if both he and Bobby thought it was crap. As far as they could make out, it was more of an act of confession than anything else.

Sam wondered what someone would confess to him of all people. He almost had to laugh when realized that was exactly what he was planning on doing.

Taking a breath, he just started speaking, hoping that he would be granted an audience or at the very least his words would be heard. “You know, I still have one secret I was keeping from Dean. Hell, I kept it from everyone. At first, it was just awkward to bring up. Seriously, how do you start a conversation with, ‘Say remember when Lucifer was running around my head’? That would be such a wonderful conversation starter, don’t you agree?”

Sam took a long swallow from the can of cola, before continuing to speak aloud, “Don’t get me wrong, man, I fully planned on telling Dean. I learned my lesson last time; secrets will fuck you up faster than anything else. I think right now it is more important to have this little chat with you, don’t you think? The funny thing about it, was while he was running around my brain, Lucifer left his own wide open. Wide open may be an exaggeration, but, man, I learned enough. It wasn’t torture poor little Sammy all the time, where would have been the fun in that for him? As we both know, he is not a lowly demon. He would never stoop to the likes of someone like Alistair. I still have nightmares about how Dean’s time with him must have been like. No, your dear brother liked to fuck with my head just as much as he liked to hurt me.

“Did you know that you are one of his favorite topics? He would go on about when you were young and all the fun you had together. The trouble he tried to get you into. It amused him that when you ran off, you became more like him. He was sorry you made your name with less of the smiting and bad attitude, but you made up for that with extra snark. He is a big believer in snark.

“Man, was it true that you convinced Raphael that he wanted to have Poseidon's title when he grew up? He said you spent months convincing him that living underwater would be the best thing to ever happen to him. That by the time Michael finally found out and told Raphael the truth, he was so embarrassed that he made the sea you both played in uninhabitable. Thanks for that by the way, to this day the water is still salty.”

Sam stopped there for another drink; he wished it was something stronger. He knew he needed to keep his head clear, unless he wanted to agree to do something crazy to save them. Sam knew that if it came down to it, short of killing someone, well killing someone that really didn't deserve it, he would do whatever was asked of him. He knew that he not only had to look himself in the eye when this was over, but Dean as well.

“Man, it’s hard to picture the four of you, young and happy, spending all of your time together. That at one point you all actually liked each other. Yet that’s not true, is it? The three of you got along great. He has so many memories of the three of you, before baby Raphael had been born.

“You were almost right when you accused him of being jealous of the new baby. He wasn’t jealous exactly; he was worried about the potential shift in power. He knew that he could always count on you to vote with him, but Raphael could tip the majority vote to a stalemate if he sided with Michael. Man, you have some serious issues. I thought Dean and I had a fucked up relationship, but you have us beat by miles.

“You three caused more damage to the world because your little spats over the millennium than anyone would believe. Lucifer even told me about the times you ran away when you were younger and he searched all over creation for you. Did you know he did that? He said Michael was sure you would just go home when you were ready, that you had every time before. It sounds like me and Dean, but my brother is no angel. I do know where he is, I just can’t get to him.” Sam stopped for another drink and to laugh at his own joke. Dean had been accused of many things over the years; hell, Sam had coined more than a few of the nicknames himself. He just hoped Dean could hold it together until he could get his plan to work. With any luck it would work fast. He hated to think he would have to resort to plan B. He just knew Dean would kick his ass over it. Hell, his brother was going to knock the shit out of him for even thinking about it. Sam reminded himself that if he had to, he would do it. 

Sam just couldn’t let Dean waste away in Purgatory or rather Dean and Castiel. Sam had to remind himself that if he just got Dean out and forgot the mentally challenged angel, his brother would never forgive him. Hell, Dean might very well return to Purgatory himself just to pull Cas out.

Dean had always blamed himself for anything that went wrong, no matter who was really to blame. He had done that his whole life and it was one of the things that Sam loved the most about him. It also was one of the things that made Sam want to kick his ass on a damn near hourly basis.

“I guess you know what it is like to have overprotective brothers. When did yours finally decide you were old enough to live on your own? Maybe that was that the problem, that they did let you live alone? Were you still waiting for them to decide to come and find you, and bring you home kicking and screaming? Man, as long as I am telling secrets, I waited for Dean to do that while I was at Stanford. I know he checked up on me. Someone that looks like Dean and drives an Impala tends to stand out a bit. He almost had the cops called on him more than a few times that first year. People thought he was my mad stalker. He would just park by my dorm or job and just sit. I guess he thought since he drove over to see me, the next move was mine. But I couldn’t bring myself to do anything. I don’t know what I felt at the time; hurt, proud, maybe even scared to make that happen. How did you do it for so long? I swear the first six months I would catch a glimpse of the car or hear its engine, and I would think all I have to do is toss my bag in the back and climb in. I wondered if he be disappointed in me for just running back to him? I was old enough to apply to college, so I was old enough to walk out on him, them. I should have been old enough to take care of myself, but it was so fucking hard. I had no clue how to do a lot of the things most people just knew how to do. We could forge credit card applications all day, but opening a bank account was new experience. I thought I was a freak before I left, I learned the hard way how much I didn’t know.

 

“I spent the first year wondering if he would ever forgive me. Could I even forgive myself? I knew I had handled it badly. I knew it was going to be a war with Dad. How selfish was I that I wanted Dean to just go along with me and ditch dad? Walk out on everything he knew. Looking back, I know I was the spoiled brat Dad said I was. I had really expected Dean to just drop his life and follow me. He had put his life on hold so many times for me that I just never stopped to question if it was good for him.“That is the story of my life, what can Dean do for me.Even after all that he still kept an eye on me. I know if I had called and asked him to come he would have had the Impala turned around, before he hung up the phone.

“But you had even bigger concerns than I did. At least when Dean and I fought, the only things that ever really got hurt were us and the occasional cheap motel room.”

Sam rummaged through the shopping bags, arranging everything on the bed closest to the door. He thought there must be some kind of twisted irony that he had made an offering fit for a sugar god’s altar on what would rightly be Dean’s bed. He wished he had grabbed beer and double cheeseburgers as well. Sam decided that may not have been a good idea, who knew how long it would take his special guest to finally get his ass over here. He snagged a package of oatmeal cookies and had one while he gathered his thoughts.

“I wonder how many hurricanes, blizzards and tsunamis were really just a brotherly spat. Honestly, if even half of what he said was true, you really had your share of adventures.

“Lucifer understood why you ran, even though he didn’t approve, he thought you should have manned up and dealt with the rest of your family, that you should have stayed and tried to help find a solution. He also knew that you had been using Loki’s name for almost as long as you had it. He followed everything you did as a god. He said when you assumed Loki’s role, you really started to find yourself.” Sam tossed the cookies back on the bed. He looked at the drinks and wished once more he had grabbed some juice, or coffee. A fresh pot of coffee would be nice.

“Let’s cut the bullshit. I know you can hear me. I know you have your reason for faking your death and ignoring all of humanity. I tried to be nice, except you aren’t getting that I am running out of time,” Sam said, trying to keep his anger in check.

“I think you mean Deano is running out of time. You, Sammy, you have all the time in the world to sit and whine,” Gabriel replied, after shimmering into the room.

Sam watched as the archangel grabbed a carton of cookies and sat on his bed. “I have to admit, I am flattered by your choice of offerings. You could have added a little skin as well. Maybe a serving wench or two,” Gabriel complained between bites.

“Sure, let’s just summon Kali and see what happens.” Sam grinned.

“Or we could just have cake,” Gabriel suggested. A visible shudder ran through him at the mention of summoning his ex for the role of a serving wench. He got up and briefly paced.

Sam sat there, wondering if the archangel was looking for a way to escape, but he surprised him by reaching for a package of pastries.

Gabriel sat next to Sam. “So, why the worried face? Castiel is with Dean, right? Cas may not be as fearsome as an archangel, but he can hold his own.” He was confused.

“Yeah, but not so much. You really have been out of the loop, haven’t you? Castiel has changed; actually he changed often since your departure. First he decided to save the world from Raphael by teaming up with Crowley. They opened the doorway to Purgatory, to allow all the souls trapped in there to be used to defeat Raphael’s army. We tried to stop it and he broke the wall in my head that Death had so carefully constructed, the wall that kept my memories of Hell and your brother away.” Sam frowned. “When that crumbled, I wound up with Lucy in my head day and night.

“Second, the Leviathan came out with the monsters souls. They all entered Cas. Then he thought he was God. Let me tell you that was loads of fun. He was an all powerful and extra smite-y God. We were number one on his hit parade. Then he came around and realized that he was not God, just not before we had to call Death on his ass. I doubt the fried pickle chips will keep him happy for long. I really hope Death isn’t going to hold a grudge,” Sam smirked.

“The Leviathan made copies of us and everywhere Dean I have been they went back to cause serious damage. We, they, whatever, went on a crime spree that made us go deep underground.

“After he began to see the error of his ways, he took my ‘Hell crazy’ from me. I’m not sure of he got the Sam flavored Hell or if it tweaked itself to be Castiel flavored. I was already half dead in a mental institution and Dean as well, unless it has to do with his next drink I doubt Dean would know.

“So we had to leave Cas there in my place. He was so fucked up over it all that he wound up in a coma, Cas not Dean. We allowed an angel to have Lucifer in his head and it traumatized him so badly that he wound up in a goddamned coma. The only one we could trust to watch over him was Meg. Yeah, the demon Meg, it would have been nice if you had been around. It would have been better to have an archangel watching Cas’s back than a fucking demon.” Sam gave him a pointed look.“Meanwhile, Cas wakes up and imprints on Meg like a little fucking duckling. Seriously, I was just waiting for him to ask are her ‘are you my momma?’

“Then the mother of all monsters cooked up a new extra special one just to let loose on the world. It took out Rufus. The Leviathan took out Frank, Dick took out Bobby. Crowley snatched the prophet Kevin. Chuck has been missing for ages. Fuck, Rufus died a while back, you have missed a lot, and trying to cram months worth of Earth shattering crap into five minutes is hard.

“I don’t know what the Hell I am doing. In a sheer moment of stupidity, I came really close to calling Becky. She drugged me and married me, but I was hoping she knew where Chuck was.” Sam stopped for another drink, and to check to see the look on Gabriel’s face. He looked shocked; Sam thought maybe he was hearing this all for the first time.

Taking a deep breath, Sam continued, “Dean and Cas got rid of Dick, but the weapon had a kick and sent them to Purgatory. It would have been nice if someone had warned us. Heaven’s weaponry really should come with a warning,” Sam finally finished.

“Sammy,” Gabriel leaned over and placed his forehead next to Sam’s.

“You’re not like going to kiss me, dude?” Sam nervously asked.

Gabriel chuckled, “Why, did you want me to kiss you, Sport?”

Sam shook his head no, while Gabriel did his best to keep Sam’s head still. “Not that it’s not flattering, but no, not really. Sorry, you’re just not my type,” Sam tried to be gracious, not wanting to piss off his best hope of getting Dean and Cas out peaceably.

“The two fingers to the head move is great, but this is quicker, also a bit more thorough. Now hush,” the archangel sternly replied.

Sam needed his help, so he just sat there and thought of Dean. How much he missed him and his stupid music, and bad jokes. Sam would listen to his mullet rock, and trade in his healthy food for double bacon cheeseburgers and not even touch the damn car again if Dean would just find his way home.

Gabriel jerked back and grinned. “He showed up naked on the Impala covered in bees. I wish I had been there. Deano must have had a meltdown. I don’t know what is worse; a naked Castiel on his car or bees near the paint job. Seriously, how did Cas go from righteous Cas to that sorry mess?”

“How should I know, you are the resident angel expert. If I had to come up with a reason why, I would think it was a mixture of my Hell and his own guilt. You and I both know what a motivator guilt is. Dude, can you help or not?” Sam was losing his patience, and had to know if the archangel was going to help or not. If not, then his backup plan was starting to look better. Dean would kick his ass, but he would be back, so that would be worth the ass kicking of Sam’s life.

“I might as well, it’s not like I have anything else do this century. But you have to give me your word that you will do a few things for me and for Castiel too. Once I get them both back home, Cas and I will need to recuperate. I imagine his power has been stretched to its limits by now. It would have been a strain even for Castile before he changed. I hate to think what will be left of him, after caring for both of them for this long. It’s not going to be a quick nap, after bringing them home, and then life goes one just as we were.”

Sam had never heard the archangel sound so serious. He was concerned by the worry in Gabriel's voice. He hadn’t sounded that afraid when he had zapped Sam and Dean to the television reality. 

 

Sam knew that Dean had been right, that Gabriel had been afraid to stand up to his brothers. Now Sam had to worry about what was scaring him more than they did.

“I feel like I am in a hostage negotiation, but sure, just let me know what you need and I will do my best. The stuff that I can do, but I’m not going to kill anyone or anything,” Sam said.

“No, like I said we will need to recuperate. But, I refuse to do that in these seedy little motels you boys seem so fond of. I want a house, a proper house. That leaves the junk yard out as well. I want you accept responsibility for both me and Cas for as long as we need you to. Do you have a place like that?”

Sam thought for a moment, before retrieving his duffle bag. “Actually, I do have somewhere in mind. I didn’t see the place, but from what Dean had said it’s perfect. Most importantly it is now mine, er Dean’s, Hell it’s ours. Rufus Turner, he left all of his stuff to Bobby. Bobby left all of his stuff to Dean. You know Dean and I made sure to leave everything we own to each other. Dean was worried someone would try to seize his baby out from under me. As if I would let anyone take his damned car.” Sam wrote the address out for Gabriel and was not surprised to see the angle snap his fingers and disappear from sight.

Sam stretched out across his bed. He knew there was no use in doing anything until Gabriel returned. Sam wondered how long it would take the angle to poke around Rufus’s house. He recalled the weekend they had spent apart, while Sam was trying to learn Doc Benton’s secrets. He thought that if only he had gone with Dean and not headed off on his own, he would know more about the house. Instead, Sam had wasted precious time, and still had to have Dean save him again.

He swore once more that he would do whatever it took to be able to save his brother and do right by Dean. He drifted off into a restless sleep. He dreamt of Dean being chased by all of the creatures they had killed over the years.

Sam saw his brother being drained by vampires while they taunted him about being one of them. That he would be a great vampire and could rule Purgatory with them. That all he had to do was think back about how incredible it felt to have that much power. Then they would make him their new alpha. The whole realm would be Dean’s and all they asked was to be one with him.

Sam watched in horror as werewolves shredded Dean’s skin from his bones. The worst part was he could hear Dean, yelling his name. Sam tried his best to get to him, but something kept blocking his path.

 

He woke when something small and heavy landed on his chest. Sam groggily stared and saw it was a box of maple fudge.

“I like the house. The neighborhood is livable. Gather up all your crap and meet me out by the car.” Gabriel turned and walked out without another word, before stopping just long enough to grab the fudge back. Sam blinked and the snacks disappeared, shrugging, he grabbed his duffel bag and headed outside. He was surprised to see the archangel and all his loot, sitting in the Impala, waiting for him.

Sam thought it was best not to say anything about finding him in Dean’s seat. He just hoped Dean would never find out. Sam thought there weren’t that many people he wouldn’t let drive if it meant saving Dean and Cas.

Riding shotgun, Sam was struck once more about how wrong it really was. “Can you drive?” Sam was worried; he knew if it worked Dean would forgive him, but there was no way he would ever forget. They would be old men and Dean would still be kicking his ass over “the damned feathered freak driving my baby.”

“Why would we have to drive?” Gabriel sounded confused.

Sam blinked his eyes and the next thing he knew, they were sitting in the driveway of what was Rufus’s home.

“Come on, Sport, we have family to save.” Gabriel grinned and made his way to the front porch.

Sam was struck by the concrete steps and the red railing. It looked homey and inviting.

“I got to say; I thought as a hunter, he would have had more hunting stuff around. A few file cabinets; that’s it? I expected a house full of crap. Your Bobby had a better setup than this. It was disorganized and a wreck, but he had enough information to run a thorough home base. He kept a pantry that high priests of the old religions would have given their left nut for. Did all of you just call Bobby for information? Was he your living breathing Wikipedia? So Bobby had your research notes, but what about the stuff, weapons and ammo type stuff? Not to mention, the evil things you took to save the poor innocent people? Where are the hex bags and curse boxes? I would have thought this place would have been just as bad as Bobby’s. Do they have a hoarder-hunter’s edition? Or did they come and clean up before we got here?” Gabriel sounded confused.

“Rufus had a storage unit, we all use them. Dean and I still have Dad’s old unit. Anything that Bobby had that was salvageable was put into another unit as well. Rufu’s cabin has boxes stored all over too. Dean and I just didn't have the time or place to sort through it all. We were kind of busy between God Cas, the Leviathan, Crowley, Meg, Hippy Cas, and my own live version of Hell. The storage units just didn't seem to matter.” Sam sighed.

“Where are these units? Addresses would be helpful. You may want to have the stuff closer to home when this is over. Is there anything else we need to get here, before I do an amazing job of saving the two lost idiots?”  
Gabriel held out a pad and pen, Sam assumed for the information he requested. He gave him what he needed and was not surprised to see the other man vanish.

Sam shrugged and continued to walk around the house. He liked it; it reminded him of the old television sitcoms he used to watch with Dean when they were little. This was the kind of place he would daydream about when he was still at Stanford. He would picture buying an old house like this, so he and Jess could fix it up, and make it theirs. He could picture them happy with a couple of kids under foot. After he graduated law school, and became a lawyer that helped people like his family. He wanted to specialize in the cases where he knew he could make sense of it even if the cops couldn’t. He wondered how many people were sitting in prison for something that was done by a supernatural freak and not them.

He knew they would never be rich from a practice like that. Jess had insisted that she was fine with him helping the people who really needed it and not the ones that would keep her in diamonds and furs. He would remind her that she loved animals too much to wear fur coats. The small fuzzy ones were some of her favorites.

Thanks to his childhood, he knew he would not miss a large paycheck. He figured as long as they had a roof over their heads and regular meals they would be okay. It made him realize how much planning Dean had done when they were younger. There was no way their dad had prepared Dean for all the little things that came up. Dean was just great at being in charge.

He shuddered to think of how different his life would have been if Dean had been any other way. He really didn’t have it as bad as he thought he did back then. He knew a large part of that was Dean’s credit. His brother really did raise him better than any high priced nanny John could have found. When he matured a bit more, he realized John did the best he could. Sam had lived through enough time loops, and challenges without Dean to know how badly John must have cracked after their mom died. Sam was willing to kill family and friends, hell the whole world, if it would bring Dean back to him. 

Still, Dean was his brother and not his wife, someone he pledged his life to. Sam realized that, if he had also had to raise two small boys with his mental state then, he would have fucked them both up, maybe even worse than he and Dean were. There would always be a small part of him that resented his childhood. There were just too many other choices he could think of. Why hadn’t John contacted his own family? Did they even have family on that side? Dad never spoke about them, for all Sam knew; they could have grandparents, aunts, uncles, and maybe cousins. They could have had kids their own age to be around.

Mom’s family was out of the question, but hell, she may have had a cousin or something that could take them. Someone retired from the life, surely not everyone was a hunter? He wondered if their dad had even bothered to look for any other family members.

Sam knew he could have just asked Pastor Jim or Bobby for help. Sam knew that either man would have taken them both in. Sam reminded himself that he was looking back without John’s baggage. He just hoped that if he was ever in that position he would do what was best for his kids. Sam laughed aloud at that thought of himself with kids. That would be a riot to see.

He had made his way to the second floor, before realizing he really was finally getting the dream house he kept trying to find. Sam closed his eyes and pretended he could hear Dean call out from down the hall, “Look Francis, you finally got your life-sized Barbie dream house.”

Sam found two small bedrooms that had a bathroom that connected them on one side of the hall. He had to laugh at that; it really was like the fucking Brady Bunch. There was a larger room on the other side that must have been Rufus’s office. Inside, there was a wall of file cabinets on one side of the room. The other had maps and cork boards covering every inch. They would have to sort through what was in there. It looked like would be a good start for an office. 

He wondered, while he looked around, what condition the angels would be in when they returned. Would they need in-home care? Would they be able to just stay home and rest? Would he be able to hunt with Dean? Would Dean want to still hunt? Would his short time in Purgatory be a lifetime down there? Would this be the final straw for Dean?

Sam found the master bedroom at the end of the hall. It was large with its own bathroom. He loved the deep sunken tub that took up a whole corner of the room. Sam was willing to overlook the avocado green color. The thought of being able to stretch out in a tub, was more than worth the ugliness of it. Sitting on the edge of the tub, Sam wondered what the hell Rufus had been thinking when he chose it. Maybe Rufus wanted a tub, where he could sink under the water, and it was the only one in stock. He heard numerous thumps downstairs and rushed to see what was happening. All he could think of, was he finally had things going his way and now he would have to deal with home invaders. Not that there was much that an average person would want to steal, he thought as he took the stairs two at a time.

Sam noticed boxes were slowly filling the living room. He didn’t recognize the writing on any of them so he assumed they belonged to Rufus. He heard the next batch filling the kitchen and went to examine them. He ran his fingers over the familiar scrawl on the boxes. He would know that writing anywhere, after having studied it in his father’s trusted journal for so many years. He smiled when he noticed that Gabriel was smart enough to send the hex boxes as well as all of the weapons. Sam hated to think what would happen if any of those things had fallen into the wrong hands. There would always be opportunists like Bela that would sell any of the things that had just appeared to the highest bidder. Sam also knew there were plenty of people that could mistakenly fall victim to the same type of trouble they had at Black Rock. The rabbit’s foot looked harmless enough, and the run of good luck was one of the greatest things anyone could have happen to them, but Sam knew firsthand how bad your luck turned when you lost the damned thing. No one would ever convince him it was a one of a kind cursed object. 

There were just too many people in the world that had no clue about dealing with the supernatural. He shuddered to think about the nightmares he had suffered after seeing that show where people bid on lockers. He was sure what most hunters kept under lock and key would scare the pants off the most seasoned storage war bidder. Bobby had done a great job constructing the hex boxes, but he knew people would be tempted to open them. He remembered his own brush with the damn rabbit’s foot, and was grateful that Bobby had been around.  
Sam heard a series of thumps and thuds and realized that Bobby’s boxes must have been scattered all over the house and most likely garage. The man was the biggest packrat of them all, so it only stood to reason he would have the most stuff.

Sam wandered around the living room and it struck him that all of their lives were able to fit in a single family home, along with Rufus’ furniture. Rufus, their dad, and the man, who loved them as much as John did; three great men and this is what they left behind. He wondered what he and Dean would leave when they finally died. Then he sadly realized they had no one to pass anything down to. No more family, blood or otherwise. They had managed to alienate everyone they had ever met, whether circumstance or death; everyone always left them. Sam wondered what old spinster brothers living together were called. He knew the answer to that one, pathetic.

He made his way back to the kitchen and spotted the snarky angel waiting for him.

“You ready to do this?” Gabriel asked him.

“Don’t you need the alpha blood, the moon to be in an eclipse and in Kansas like Castiel did?” Sam was confused. Gabriel was speaking like it was going to happen right then.

“Castiel, while a powerful angel, is not an archangel. If he were an archangel, then he wouldn’t have needed all that extra crap either. Baby brother Raphie marched Crowley right into Purgatory and they did anything they wanted,”Gabriel explained as he twirled a piece of chalk between his fingers.

“How can that be possible?” Sam wondered aloud.

“Think about it, Dad made Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, do you really think he wanted to keep the four of us out? There isn’t anywhere that he created that we cannot easily get into, or out of for that matter. I have no idea why Raphael didn’t remember that. You were right, when you said Lucifer had problems with him. They just never seemed to bond. Could be why he trailed after Michael like a lost puppy. Really, people used to joke about you being Dean’s shadow, but, man, you had nothing on Raphael. He was always a clingy kid, until the civil war in our house started and he decided he was big enough to take on Lucifer,” Gabriel said to Sam as if he thought the hunter should know this. “Things got ugly after that, think of your prank wars, but with unlimited power to back them up. You were right, it is embarrassing to admit it, but we did pull some major shit on one another. Michael always thought he was better than us. I don’t know, maybe he just thought he was more mature than the rest of us. He would ignore it until something affected him or Raphael cried one too many times and then boom! Down came the hammer of Mikey.”

Sam wondered why the angels had always thought that he and Dean knew all there was to know about angel lore, when truthfully, they never really knew they even excited until Cas pulled Dean out from Hell. He had heard the story about how Castiel finally showed up in that old barn and Bobby and Dean still wouldn’t believe he was an angel. They thought he was some new kind of hopped up demon. Dean even stabbed him with Ruby’s knife. Sam shook his head as if to clear the wandering thoughts.

“I understand that, you have a closer connection to your Father than Castiel does. How does that help you get in without all the extra bells and whistles?” Sam really wanted to know. If it weren’t so serious and Dean had actually been here, he would be laughing his ass off at his geeky brother. Even with the drama going on, Sam couldn’t resist the lure of new knowledge. Things no other human knew about angles. Unfortunately, Gabriel waved off his questions and turned his back on him.

Sam watched as the angel drew a door, complete with a knob, on their kitchen wall. He drew a rune in the center and Sam couldn’t place what it meant.

“You wait here. I will have a hard enough time getting the three of us out. I really can’t add the extra pressure of another person.”

Sam saw real sincerity on the angel’s face and decided not to press him on the subject. He really hoped he could do what he said he could. Sam might be willing to use his backup plan, but that didn't mean he wanted to. He watched, amazed, as Gabriel seemed to open the door in the wall.

“Two things; number one, no matter what you hear do not under any circumstances open this door, in fact, you should go sit somewhere else, like the freakin’ dinner two blocks over. I know you won't leave the house, but promise me you won’t open this door. Number two, is this box, do not open it until we return. If things are different than when we started, then you need to open it. I really hope I am wrong and things will play out better than I think they will. Promise me both things, before I go through, Sam.” Gabriel waited for his promise.

Hell, Sam would have signed in blood or made a pinky swear on his laptop if it had been asked of him. All he wanted was for Dean to come home. He looked at the box Gabriel held just moments ago. Sam was tempted to open it, but a promise was a promise. He put it on top of one of the many boxes in the living room. He hoped out of sight would truly be out of mind.

Sam decided to keep himself busy until he saw the angel once more. He couldn’t just sit and dwell on all the things that could go bad with this plan. He wandered out to the garage and saw the boxes piled up around the Impala and smiled when he realized there was not a single box touching the car. It seemed as though even Gabriel didn’t want to incur Dean’s wrath over his baby. Sam knew that feeling all too well. He would rather eat broken glass than admit he hurt the damned car. Not that he would ever admit that out loud, ever. The worst part would be the look Dean would get, like James Hetfield announcing Metallica was breaking up and it was all Dean’s fault.

Sam had come a long way from passive-aggressively hating the car to just accepting that she, it, made Dean happy. San was delighted to see his army man was still jammed in the ashtray. It did look odd, seeing as they never had kids in the car. Dean had kept her covered in the garage when he was with Lisa and Ben. He wondered if Lisa was jealous of the car as well. Sam thought it would be hard enough to share his boyfriend’s heart with Dean’s family and lost friends, but to be out maneuvered by a car, that would suck.

Sam remembered being twelve and telling the car how much he hated it. Looking back on it, he wondered what he was thinking. He hoped Lisa was just as sneaky as he was about hating the old girl.

He ran a hand over her roof, promising her that he would bring her Dean back home and that he would drive her often, that they would never allow another demon behind the wheel. They would never make a plan that had the words “crash” and “Impala” in it, unless Dean’s life was at stake. That he was willing to bury their hatchet, but Dean would always come before her.

Spying a bucket full of cleaners, he grabbed them on the way out. Sam thought as long as he was waiting, he would clear the kitchen out of everything that was inedible and give it good scrubbing.

He wished he had a realistic reference for whatever Gabriel was doing in Purgatory. He mentally kicked himself for not asking about the time difference there. Had it been weeks, months, or, God forbid, years since they vanished? It couldn't be like Hell, there is no way any superior being would allow Dean to go through that twice.His brother was going to be fine. Sam threw out old canned goods and boxes of pasta and rice trying not to think about the horrors Dean was most likely facing. He hoped Castiel found his inner strength and was able to at least back Dean up.

Sam lost himself in the repetition of the job and lost all track of time. He paused, thankful that all there was in the fridge now, was a box of baking soda and a few bottles of suspicious looking juice. He stuck the sodas he had brought in earlier in there. It wasn't much, but it was no longer bare. The next thing he knew the sun was beginning to set, so he went looking for the light switch, when he heard a noise he couldn't place. He froze mid step when he realized it sounded like a creaky door, because it was the door in the wall.

Sam ran back into the kitchen and watched as the door swung all the way open. He couldn’t believe his eyes when Dean walked out. His Dean was no older and not crippled or maimed. He was walking under his own power; that had to be a good sign. Sam looked closer and realized his brother was walking funny.

He rushed forward and hugged his brother tight. He quickly jumped back when he heard something yell. He started unbelieving at Dean. He had a small kid on either hip.

“Something you want to tell me?” Sam asked. “Seriously, Dean, you brought back hitchhikers from Purgatory? Speaking of which, where are Gabriel and Cas, I think the door is about to close.” Sam was worried they had saved Dean at a cost to themselves.

“Yeah about that, Sam, really look at these two kids. Notice anything familiar?” Dean asked, before moving to the table. He placed each boy on the table and pulled his chair in front of them. Sam walked over and looked at them, Dean was right; he knew he had seen them before. Sam just couldn’t place where they had seen them,though. The last kid they had spent time with that was still in diapers, was the shape shifter baby. Sam wasn’t sure if they were still actually in diapers or not. He thought they must be about three years old. “Daddy, he's big,” Sam heard one whisper to Dean. Daddy? Dean was in Purgatory long enough to knock up a monster, steal his kids, and ditch the angles.

Shit, Sam mentally cursed as he took a good look at the kids. “Castiel and Gabriel, you helped Daddy find his way home?” Sam asked, hoping he was wrong.

“Yeah, he was lost but I knew how to get here. Daddy wanted to come home to see Sammy. He kept saying Sammy would fix us,” said the one Sam thought had to be Gabriel. He watched, horrified, as Castiel stuck his thumb in his mouth and his blue eyes began to water. Gabriel looked like most kids, he had on the same jeans and a tee shirt now shrunk to his new size, while Castiel, he had on the same clothes he had worn when he went missing. The white hospital scrubs and miniature trench coat looked sad on someone his age.

“Dean,” he whispered and nodded to the soon to be crying angel. Sam felt helpless to stop it.

“Shh, Cas, it’s okay, baby. We’re home now. Everything is alright. I’m here and Sammy’s here. You just have to remember Sammy. I know he is big and scary looking, but he’s a good guy. We like Sammy. Sammy will never hurt you. I know for a fact, Sammy would do anything to keep you safe,” Dean said softly to Cas.

Sam decided if his height was scaring the kid, he had better quickly find a chair. He saw Castiel peeking over Dean’s shoulder at him. Sam scooted his chair next to Dean’s and laid his head on his brother’s other shoulder. He hoped that if Cas saw that Dean trusted him, he would as well. “I missed you,” he told Dean.

“I thought as much, when I saw the rescue effort you sent in. That was a shock. I thought he was just as stuck as we were. The last time we saw him, his brother had just ganked him. All the ways I wanted to spend my eternity in exile, stuck with those two bozos was not on my list,” Dean whispered back.

“Later, I will tell you what happened,” Sam whispered to Dean. He wasn’t sure if he wanted Gabriel to remember what happened or not. How do you explain to a two year old that just hours before they were almost as old as time itself? That he gave up his angelic grace to save Dean. Sam barely understood it himself, so how could he explain to the kid?

“‘m hungry. My belly is empty,” Gabriel announced to the table as he patted his empty belly.

“Is pizza alright?” Sam asked. He never did get to the store and all they had in the house was what was left of the sugar fest from earlier. “Unless you just want p-i-e?” Sam asked spelling the last word to hopefully avoid a temper tantrum or two if Dean thought real food was better.

“I think pie is okay. I’m betting some food and a bed and they will be out for the night,” Dean told him.

“Come on, kiddos, let’s go find food.” Dean picked up Cas and settled him on his hip.

Sam looked at Gabriel, sitting there waiting his turn. He took a deep breath and told himself he could do this. Sam slid over to Dean’s now empty chair. He looked at the miniature version of Gabriel and tried to picture him in all the stories Lucifer had told him about the now shrunken angel. Sam held his hands out, not wanting to pressure the kid, but he really was capable of carrying him into the living room. He watched as Gabriel’s face shifted from worried to acceptance, before scooting closer to him.

“Come on, Squirt, let’s go find Daddy,” Sam told him as he sat him on his hip much the same way Dean had done with Cas.

“I was coming to get him,” Dean said when he saw them walk in the room.

“Well, can’t keep him from his daddy.” Sam smirked.

“Also his brother, they are really close. Like the non identical twins.” Dean winked at Sam.

“Fraternal twins, two eggs so they don’t look alike,” Sam answered automatically.

They settled back on the couch and watched as Dean’s twins sampled everything that was on the coffee table. They ate pie and cake by the tiny fistful. They tried their best to feed Dean whatever they were sampling. Sam excused himself to go grab a glass of water for them. He knew all they had in the fridge was soda and he was not amping the sugar fest up anymore than it already was.

Sam laughed out loud when he saw the state of Dean’s face, it was as big of a mess as the kids’. It had taken him a few minutes to find a couple of light mugs that felt sturdy enough for their little hands. It looked like he had missed out on the fun while he was gone.

“Don’t laugh, Princess, you used to do this to me all the time when you were their age. You had it in your head if you ate I had to try it. I would tell you, ‘Look, Sammy, I have my own plate.’ You just wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Dean reminded him.

Sam watched the kids for a bit, trying hard not to laugh at their antics. When he noticed they were finally playing with the food more than eating, he figured they must be full. They were a mess as they had frosting and pie filling smeared over most of their little bodies and clothes. That was when he realized they had nothing for the kids to wear.

Dean was scooping them both up and heading to the kitchen, when he called back to Sam, “Tell me you brought my bag in? And maybe some extra blankets from the motel you were not doubt holed up in.”

“Yeah, I did, your bag is in here and there are a ton of blankets and the towels on top of the boxes in the hall,” Sam confirmed as he grabbed Dean’s bag.

“What is the deal with the boxes, Sammy? I swear I saw Dad’s in the mix. Bobby’s too if I am right. Where the Hell are we for that matter? I know I have been here, but I can’t place it,” Dean asked as he sat the two now naked kids on the kitchen counter.

“The boxes I will explain later and as far as where we are, um your house,” Sam teased his brother.

“What do you mean my house? I think I would remember buying a damn house,” Dean grumbled as he filled each side if the sink with warm water. “Well, get your ass over here. What are you waiting for, an engraved invitation? We need to wash them before this crap dries on them. Trust me I learned that the hard way.”

Sam wisely took the sink that Dean had stuck Gabriel in. He had no clue what he was doing, but he quickly washed Gabriel’s hair with the shampoo Dean had handed him. He had to laugh that Rufus’ sink had one of those sprayer attachments to it. It made keeping the shampoo out of the miniature angels’ eyes a lot easier.

“Hey guys, would you believe this ginormous boy used to take a bath just like this?” Dean asked them.

Both kids squealed, “No.”

“It’s true. Sam was once as small as you guys, even smaller,” Dean whispered the last bit like it was the biggest secret. 

Sam was amused by the matched pair of wide eyes and softly spoken “No,” that came from each side of the sink.He smiled, watching his brother interact with the two of them. Sam was surprised to see Dean really was a natural father. He used to tease Sam that he had bathed him in the hotel ice buckets, because Dad had told him not to put the baby in the sink. Sam used to think he was joking, but after watching the three of them he wasn’t so sure anymore.

They each pulled a kid out of the sink and quickly dried him off. Dean had snagged two of his own tee shirts and tossed one to Sammy. They were long on them, but they were clean and dry.

They made their way back into the living room and Sam and the boys watched as Dean moved two of the armchairs so they faced each other. He then went and grabbed the extra blankets and built a nest of sorts in the chairs.

“Grab your kid,” Dean called out as he moved to picked up Cas and carry him over to the makeshift bed. They placed the boys side by side on the chairs and dimmed the lights. Dean bent over and kissed each one and wished them sweet dreams. Sam decided to follow his lead. He was glad when Cas let him kiss his tiny forehead. For some reason, he felt that was one of the biggest victories of the day.

The brothers made their way back to the couch so they could be close if the kids called them.

“Son of a bitch, this is Rufus’s house, right?” Dean asked him. “Well yeah, he left everything to Bobby and Bobby left it all to you. So see, your house,” Sam explained.

“My house complete with two kids. What am I going to do with kids? How did that even happen? Is it permanent? Will we wake up to them full sized angels cuddled together on the chairs?” Dean sounded like he was beginning to panic. Sam wished he had a better camera than the one on his phone if that was going to happen. It sounded like it would be great blackmail material.

“Don’t worry, Dean, you’re great with kids. They all love you. Hell, Dean, you raised me and I am not that bad. Well, the shit that is that bad isn’t your fault. You always made sure I had enough to eat and clothes to wear. I always had the best GPA, because you used to work with me. Who taught me basic math with M&M’s? Do you remember the one year I was in the city spelling bee and I was sure I would lose. You put flash cards all over the house. You drilled all of the suggested words into my head. You just incorporated them into our regular training sessions. Hell, I am lucky I didn’t break into jumping jacks on stage.” Sam smiled at the memory.

“What about the other stuff? The crap most brothers don’t want to teach their little brothers. Who taught me how to ask a girl out? Who taught me how to fucking slow dance when I was worried about the Sadie Hawkins dance in junior high? Yeah, you teased and mocked me the whole time, but I could dance better than most of the guys there. There is nothing you couldn’t teach me. I may not be as good as hustling pool or cards as you, but I am damn site better than everyone else I know. And I know how to throw a punch and take a fucking fall and not die. All of my big milestones, you were there for me. Do you remember teaching me how to shave? What about teaching me to drive? How to write my name, as well as being able to count to one hundred, Dean, don’t sell yourself short, you’re an amazing dad.” Sam was out of breath, and desperately hoping, the panic he felt didn't come through.

Sam hated to hear the doubt in his brother’s voice. He knew he was right; Dean would be the best father those kids, or any kids could ever have. “You need sleep, hell, I need sleep. If they stay like that we have a lot of crap to figure out. I really don’t want to leave them alone. The bed you rigged up works great, but the last thing we need is busted skull from a pee break. The couch pulls out, you wanna just crash in here?” Sam really didn’t want to leave the kids alone, more importantly he didn’t want to leave Dean. He waited for his brother to nod, and head down the hall to the bathroom.

Sam made quick work of fixing the bed, like everything he had found in the house it was old, yet well cared for. He wished he could fix Dean as easily as he had the bed. He knew he was right, Dean was selling himself short. His day was beginning to catch up with him. Sam laid down on his side of the bed and barely felt it when Dean slid into the bed next to him.

 

*************  
Sam woke to giggling, and quickly tried to think of what monsters giggled. Potty? What monsters asked to go to the potty? Sam wondered as he burrowed under the blanket. Oh potty! Sam belatedly realized that yesterday really had happened. He was kind of hoping it had been a crazy drunken dream. Not getting Dean back; that he wanted to have had happen. Just the part where the two angels were now toddlers, and living with them, he could do without.

Shit, he and Dean were parents, uncles, maybe? He wasn’t awake enough to figure it out. They had definitely called Dean “daddy,” so that would make him Uncle Sam.Eww, Sam thought that was just sounded wrong. He looked over and saw Dean was still sound asleep, the lucky bastard.

Taking both boys from their makeshift crib; he realized they would need to get them something proper to sleep in soon. He added check parenting websites to his growing mental to-do list. Sam really had no idea what a kid their size needed. The first thing he had to do was figure out the potty issue, if the dancing little boys were any indication they really had to pee.

Sam soon realized that little boys could sit on the seat and they would be fine. After they both had finished and washed their hands, Sam added a step stool for the bathroom sink to his ever growing mental shopping list.  
He shooed them out of the bathroom so he would finally have a chance to use it himself. He told them to go find Daddy. He watched as they both ran off to do just that. Sam smiled when he heard the happy shrieks of Daddy all the way down the hall. He heard Dean yell out in way he would later claim to be manly. Sam might even let it slide, maybe.

If they couldn’t be returned to their former life, he knew they would be happy with Dean. With Dean, that thought stopped him; would Dean still want him around? If he were Dean, would he want Sam around the kids? Sure he was doing better, but how long would that last? How long until he fucked up, yet again? Could Dean watch them and work? Sam felt panicked by the thought of Dean meeting someone and raising the boys without him.Would he try to meet Lisa again? Cas had wiped her mind, but Dean could meet her again. She fell for him once, or was that twice? Sam wondered. He had no doubt she would fall for him again. Dean was a catch, and with two small boys in tow, what mother could pass him up? Maybe he could get a place nearby so he could still hang out with Dean and his boys, he idly thought as he made his way back to the living room. That wouldn’t be at all creepy or awkward, he bitterly thought.

He saw the three of them on the pull out bed. Dean had flipped some cartoon show on and the boys were watching wide-eyed and fascinated. Sam noticed Dean had yet another box of pastries on the bed with him, he really hoped the sweets would run out soon. Even Sam was starting to think a bacon and egg breakfast would be delicious. He noticed the boys were enjoying themselves and seemed to be getting most of the food in their own mouths this time. Sam guessed they were busier watching the yellow blob on television than worrying about Dean eating. 

“Sasquatch, pull up a corner.” Dean smiled at Sam, and patted the corner of the bed beside him.

“Squatch?” Cas whispered to Gabriel.

Sam saw Gabriel nod, he groaned, hoping to cut that nickname off before it stuck. He could just see it now, babies, Daddy and Sasquatch. He looked over and Dean had the good sense to smother his laughing fit.

“No, no, not Sasquatch, Sammy, remember. I am Sammy?” he asked them. Sam watched as they picked through a box of doughnut holes. When did I grab those?he wondered as they whispered to each other.  
“Sammy?”he heard Gabriel ask Cas. He watched as Cas seemed to mull it over for a moment before he scrunched his face up. “Not Sammy, Squatch.” Cas smiled at his brother. Sam realized how easy it was to start thinking of them as brothers.  
“Awww, they got a daddy and a Squatch.” Dean smiled.  
Sam rolled his eyes and could only hope it would be forgotten by the next commercial. Settling in, he watched the kids pass the box of doughnut holes back and forth as they stared, fixated, at the television. They stopped every so often to whisper to each other and giggle at whatever was on the screen.

“Sam, what’s the metal box with our name on it?” Dean pulled him out of his absent minded musing from down the hall.

“Bring that in here, it was a farewell gift, from uh, Loki. Before he went rushing off to find you and Jimmy,” Sam said, stumbling over the names. He wasn't sure how much they remembered about being angelic or their time in Purgatory. Sam was not going to take a chance at triggering anything. He remembered how it felt when his own wall couldn’t be repaired. Sam didn't want to think about how hard it would be to have to experience that as a kid.

“I didn’t realize he left any instructions behind,” Dean said as he carefully opened the box. “What the Hell is this crap?” he asked Sam as he pulled out what looked to be everything from bank statements to faded newspaper articles.

Sam was shocked to see that he and Dean had a life that was mirrored after their own, yet still, radically different.

He picked up one of the faded newspaper clippings and was shocked to see a photo of Dean, holding him. I looked like someone had snapped it the night their mom died. He knew it was their house in Lawrence. He read the article and learned that, unfortunately, Mary had suffered the same fate in their new timeline.

Sam wasn’t surprised to learn that Dean had saved him once more. The reporter was in awe at how his brother was able to get him out of his crib and carry him out the burning house. Dean truly was a remarkable four-year old. Most young children would have been too afraid to even save themselves, let alone their playmate. Dean just smiled at the woman and said, “I love my Sammy.” That seemed to sum it up for everyone. That young Dean Robert Winchester knew Samuel Jonathan Singer would always be part of his life.

“Whoa, you’re not a Winchester anymore?” Dean asked him. “That is freaky, but look, we’ve been close all our life. We still will be, this new life he forged us. At least he did that right. Shit, You know what this means?” Dean asked Sam as he moved closer to him on the bed. “Think of every antiquing and two queens jokes we have dealt with over the years and multiply it by like a million. Now we can’t remind people we are brothers. How could he do that to us?” Dean flopped back on the bed.

“Dean, We have had our whole life turned upside down, not to mention theirs. The biggest problem you have with it is people will think we are a couple? Seriously, Dean, you can’t possibly be worried about finding a girl and bringing her home. Don’t you think we have enough problems without worrying about your libido?” Sam tried hard not to laugh at Dean.

“Damn, Sam, did you see the rest of this? He must have given us everything he had accumulated over the years.” Dean sounded as shocked as Sam felt, looking at the documents his brother had just been going through.

Sam looked through everything and realized it was not the millions one would think someone with his lifespan had accumulated. Sam thought for a moment and realized Gabriel never took a high profile job. Hell, when they had met him, he had been a janitor at the same college for years. He had perfected how to stay under the radar, Sam thought. He quickly added the totals in his head and realized that they may not be filthy rich, but they would be more comfortable than they ever had been before. There was enough money to keep them from worrying about anything in their lifetime. There was a stack of cash at the very bottom that would see them through the first few years at least. He figured the way he and Dean lived between the cash and savings they could probably pay for the kids’ college education as well.

 

“Look here, college boy.” Dean laughed as he tossed an envelope Sam's way.

Sam quickly read the employment contract that he had already signed. He was the newest English teacher at the local Junior High School. Sam never thought about being a school teacher. When Stanford fell through on him he had given up any thought of a job that would require a degree. He just figured if he were lucky to see retirement, he and Dean would end up like Bobby. They could help the next generation of hunters and take the occasional job. That was if something was close enough to home. He always thought home would be the salvage yard. He could see it clearly, Dean working on the cars, while he researched whatever the next generation was too stupid to figure out.

“Look at this, we adopted them. According to the paper work their mom was my cousin. Oh man, Sam, it seems one ‘Deanna Samantha Winchester’ was in a cult…The Church of the Righteous Angels. They were completely cut off from society. I guess that would explain any awkwardness, but wow an angel cult.” Dean shuffled a few more pages before continuing, “It seems that the government was finally going to step in and save the people or some such shit and the grand poobah decided that they would go live with their precious angels instead. Deanna had managed to call me and you, and I went and saved the boys. If she had been real, I would have liked her, I think.

“It looks like Loki used a major chunk of his angle juice on the records; it looks like he spread the story everywhere. Sam, major newspapers, even the fucking CNN, carried the story. Last two surviving people of the Righteous Angels were just turning three years old. People were very vocal about where they would be placed. We fought for them and won custody. The public weighed in on both sides, the kids needed a ‘normal life’ and the ones that felt we were family and should have them even if we were gay won in the end. He really planned this out, a whole new human family for the both of them. We have teacher Sam as the breadwinner and daddy Dean to be the stay at home mah.. daddy, and raise them. I wonder why he picked Rufus's house of all places. He made Bobby your dad so the salvage yard would have been a better cover story. He had the juice to just restore it.”

 

“One of the conditions for saving you, were that we would care for them as long as they needed us to. I think he had some idea about what would happen in Purgatory. Loki wanted a normal life, one that did not consist of motel rooms or Bobby's,” Sam admitted.

“I understand the no motel rooms, as much fun as we had there, they were an equal pain in the ass. There is nothing wrong with Bobby's place. Sure, it needed a little TLC and some fresh paint. It could have worked,” Dean mused. “Sam, why do you think he gave you a job and not me?”

“Maybe he thought you would need a break when you finally got back here. It could be he thought little Jimmy would deal better with you than me. For all we know, Dean, he might have just thought you would be more fun?” Sam was willing to bet it was that Gabriel knew Dean would be better than him at raising them. Hell, Sam knew if he had to choose between Dean and himself as a parental unit he would pick Dean hands down.

“This explains why Bobby's is still burnt to the ground. This time the Leviathan didn't do it, just regular hate filled people. Two gay men raising twin boys just didn't sit with a group of them. Oh, man, the leader wasn't even a local, he drove his asshole buddies in to town, just to burn the house down. It says here, ‘the only thing they were sorry for was we left early to find the kids and didn't die in our bed like we should have.’ People are crazy, Sam.” Dean could imagine it all too well.  
Sam wisely kept from mentioning that the crazy people in question never existed. “It's not like you have to decide right now, you can take your time and give it some thought. I think you will be busy getting the kids settled. We have to decide what to do about the boxes and all the other crap that showed up here yesterday. I know most of that stuff is not kid friendly. Even worse, can you imagine the neighbors seeing any of it?” Sam remembered how hard it was to hide the meager hunting essentials he had brought with him to Stanford. He worried that if anyone saw his blades, they would think he was a crazed killer.

“Why don't we get out of the house for a bit? We need get them some clothes and basic stuff. They don't seem to need diapers, but I am sure we need car seats maybe booster chairs.” Sam decided they were going to do that.

“You want to put booster seats in my baby?” Dean sounded surprised.

Sam stopped by the end of the bed, “No, Dean, car seats are for the car booster seats are for the table. I think they are out of high chairs.”

“Dude, you didn't have all that crap and you turned out just fine,” Dean argued.

“You did a great job; I am not arguing that, Dean. This time around, you are not a four year old trying to raise a baby. How the hell you did it, is beyond me. Dean, I look at them and all I can think of is I need to find parenting websites and books. I have no clue how to do this. You were barely older than them and you took care of both of us. Like bathing them, I never would have thought to use the sink,” Sam admitted.

Dean shrugged off the compliment. “I told you, I stuck your baby ass in a bucket. So how are we going to go get the kids stuff without having any idea about what we need to buy? I have no clue about the sizes they need. Lisa and I used to babysit for some of her friends and family, but all the kids were either babies or bigger kids. It was a great trade-off, we watch theirs and then they would take Ben for us. Everyone could have a night out without worrying,” Dean explained.

“Dean, there’s a diner two blocks over; if we carried them, we could just walk. It’s still early, so maybe no one will think it’s odd that they went out half dressed. You know that dinners always have the best info about a town. Maybe we can chat up a waitress and figure out where all the stuff we need is,” Sam suggested as he gathered his jeans and shoes from the night before. He drew the line at the shirt, and instead, grabbed a fresh button down from his bag.

Sam waited for Dean to do the same, and then went to the bathroom to grab a damp cloth to make the boys at least presentable. He had to admit they were cute. Sam stood before them, trying to decide which one he would be carrying. He had no doubt they both would want their new daddy to carry them.

“Squatch.” Cas tugged on Sam’s pant leg  
Sam looked down and saw those big blue eyes, staring up at him. He picked him up and looking at Cas, he realized how small and young the angel really was. Dean had Gabriel and was waiting by the door for them. Sam checked the side table in the hall and saw a new keyring with a bunch of shiny new keys on it. He picked it up and saw it was a cartoonish angel and knew that Gabriel must have left those, before he went off to find the guys.

“I can’t believe we have to walk. My baby looks good, you swore she wasn’t damaged. If Meg hurt her, I’ll hunt her down. Sam, we haven’t walked on purpose when we had a running car that was ours in like... ever. Hell, you could hotwire anything even when you were little. We have a car, Baby is in the garage,” Dean bitched down the stairs.

Sam was doing his best not to encourage the monologue, he figured Dean would either run out of steam or they would get to town.

“Hello, boys,” they heard someone call from the house next door.

“Boys?” Dean mouthed to Sam as his brother turned and waved to the elderly man, standing on the porch next door. “We may as well go be neighborly. Unless we plan on moving sometime soon, we are staying here for a while,” Sam suggested.

“Old coot says one word about us raising these two and I will...” Dean started to say, but Sam cut him off, “Not be happy, but you will handle it like an adult, right, Dean?”

“Oh yeah, I will be an adult and adult that knows how to deal with assholes, and not in public,” Dean replied.  
Sam thought that was the best promise he would get from his brother.

“You must be the new boys, in Rufus’ place. The name’s Tim Jones, my missus will be madder than a wet hen that she missed your move in. I am sure she is planning on baking you some kind of welcome to the neighborhood basket. Word of warning, when she does cake or pie,those are the best you will taste. If you happen to be on the other end of a muffin basket just chuck ‘em out when she goes home they are the worst. I love Peggy, she is a great cook, but for some reason muffins just turn out wrong.” He smiled at them.

“Thanks for the warning Tim, I am sure they will be great. I’m Sam and this is my... Dean and the kids are Cas and Gabriel.” Sam mentally kicked himself for stumbling over the fact that Dean was his brother. He had spent too many years explaining “that is my brother, Dean” to just turn it off now.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about any of us. I am not saying we have a perfect town and everyone will accept you with open arms, but you have nothing to worry about on this street. I think most of us just think it is really good what you two are doing. Most people would have just let them go to the state. We saw the news stories about how hard it was for you to get custody and keep them. Small minded assholes should keep their noses out of others business, I always say,” Tim told them.  
Sam liked him, he was shorter than them by a good foot and was balding. He had an unlit cigar in his hand that he fidgeted with. Sam tried not to laugh when he realized who Tim reminded him of; he looked a bit like a slimmer version Boss Hogg from the old “Dukes of Hazzard” show. He was glad it wasn’t an exact look-alike or he would think Gabriel had sucked them back into an alternate television based reality.

“I’m sorry, but I have to ask, why do you have the kids out half dressed?” he sheepishly asked them.

“They only had one small bag of stuff and the airline still managed to lose it. We were going to walk around and see if we could find some place to buy what we needed for them.” The annoyance of the walk came through in Dean’s voice.

“I hate flying, can’t get me on one of those flying death traps. If the good Lord wanted us to fly we would have sprouted wings I say.” Tim smiled at them.  
Dean nodding in agreement, Sam knew that Dean would be warming up to the old guy. Sam realized now that he was closer to him, that Tim must have been about Bobby’s age.

“I may be able to help you out with that. Why don’t you bring them in for a minute?” Tim opened his front door.

Dean stepped in front of Sam and handed Gabriel to him, before stepping inside. Sam tried not to sigh; he should have known Dean would never change. He would always walk in first into unknown situations. Sam and the kids would wait on the sideline for him to declare it safe. Sometimes, Sam felt like Dean thought he was as old as the kids. He reminded himself that he was not going to be Sammy the bitch faced boy over the small things. If it made Dean feel better to check all the rooms and perimeters for a while, Sam could live with it.

Sam saw that Tim was sitting at a small round kitchen table. The floor was covered with boxes; he almost thought they had walked back into their own home for a moment.

“Peggy, she heads up the local woman’s club and they do all sorts of charity work. I should know more than I do, but sometimes I swear she gets on a tear and I just smile and nod to keep the peace. You know how that goes?”he asked, blushing.

“Oh do I ever, this one gets a cause in his head and it's all I hear, 'Dean, think of the kittens, Dean, the trees, Dean, the ozone, Dean, Dean, Dean,’” Dean agreed with Tim.  
Sam slowly counted to twenty and just nodded. He reminded himself that he did not go through all of this just to kill Dean in their neighbor's home.

 

“Ah, then you do understand,” Tim said with a wink. “This time, they’re collecting kids’ clothes for someplace or another. You know, where the last big earthquake was or maybe, was it a fire? Never mind, point is everyone dropped off clothes to be shipped. Peggy sorts and washes them all, so they’re all clean and in good condition. I was thinking, you could at least put something together so they ain’t in what looks like dresses,” Tim offered.

“Yeah, my tee's are smaller than Sam's, but they’re still dragging on the boys. Thanks a lot, Tim. We really appreciate this,” Dean said as he followed Tim into the living room.

“Guys, you want to find something to wear, then we can go into town?” Sam asked the boys as he walked with them over to the boxes. He saw Peggy had organized all the clothes by what he thought was called stages. One box was clearly newborn, so Sam dismissed it. He moved along the boxes until he found the toddler boxes. He found a couple of plain black tees that looked like Dean's. He grabbed those, thinking they would make the kids happy. He recalled a time when all of his clothes looked just like Dean's. If he were honest, they really were Dean's first. He found jeans and sneakers that looked like they would fit as well. He hoped these would be the last time they would wear second-hand things. Sam wanted to give the boys everything he always claimed they had been cheated out of.

 

“Oh, wait a moment, before you dress them,” Tim called as he made his way to the other end of the room. “Peggy watches those crazy couponers on the television and has been doing that with our money. I think she has it in her head if she contributes the most the other women will like her, or at least respect her. I think it is a lost cause, they’re never going to warm up to her. They’re a bunch of jealous old harpies if you ask me. But, it makes her happy, so I keep my mouth shut. What she does is she takes her freebies and coupon deals and adds them to her part of the tally.” He stopped and turned towards Sam, before tossing a bag at him. “I think these will work for your boys. I swear no man, no matter how little, wants to wear someone else's skives and socks.” 

Sam looked inside and saw they were socks and underwear for the boys. He quickly dressed them both.He realized after the change of clothes they looked like any other kid. “Cas, and Gabriel, say thank you,” Sam prodded them.  
“You tell him, Squatch,” Gabriel whispered as Cas nodded.

“Squatch, is that a short for something?” Tim asked as he walked over to one the chairs in the living room.

“Dean is horrible about pet names. Not with everyone mind you, he tends to get more creative with mine. That and he’s still jealous that I had a final growth spurt he missed out on.” Sam grinned over at a scowling Dean.

“Would you prefer to be ‘Sugar’ or maybe ‘Darling’?” Dean had the nerve to smirk at him. 

Sam picked up the boys and went to stand beside Dean. “That’s it, my life goal is to be lumped in with the waitresses at the local dinner.” Sam batted his eyes at Dean as he stood next to his brother.

“Bitch,” Dean smiled and Sam felt himself relaxing a bit for the first time since he had watched Dean walk back into his life.  
“Jerk, just for that you are buying me something special in town,” Sam threatened him. 

“Anything my pretty little princess wants.” Dean laughed as he picked Gabriel up. Sam waited until Dean had the kid settled and then punched him on the other shoulder, before stepping out onto the porch with Cas. Sam swung Cas up to sit on his shoulders. 

“Cas, baby, who is the little one around here, me or daddy?” he asked him.

“Daddy is littler than you. Squatch is big.” Cas giggled as Sam careful spun them around.

“Yup, Daddy is a shortie,” Sam agreed.

“I maybe shorter, but Squatch is still the princess,” Dean replied.

“Princess are girls, Squatch is a girl?” Gabriel asked confused.  
“Nope, none of us are girls. Sasquatch has always been my pretty little princess.” Dean had the nerve to wink at Sam.

Sam heard Tim laughing from the porch. He turned around and saw the elderly gentleman, leaning on the railing of his porch, bent over, laughing at something that had to be funnier than they were. Sam looked around but didn’t see it.

He moved Cas to his hip so he could ride beside his brother on Dean’s hip. He listened contently as the kids pointed out everything that caught their eyes. He had been worried about how they would adjust. Did they have walls, like he did? How could they cram lives that long in a corner of a toddler’s mind? Did they have to worry that at any moment they would remember being archangels?

“...Sam used to love to do it.”  
Sam realized he had been ignoring his brother. He nodded his head and hoped he didn’t agree to something crazy. He knew with Dean there was a good chance he just confirmed he had loved to dance around the park in a pink tutu. 

“Squatch, used to love to eat in the park. I would pack him a lunch and he would grab a book and spend the day outside,” Dean told them fondly.

Huh? Sam thought that wasn’t how he remembered it. He recalled Dad saying he was not allowed on certain hunts. Dean would pack him a sack lunch and tell him to grab a book, and Sam would sit and worry until they came back for him. He spent hours, picturing very horrible things that could happen to them. He had visions of them never coming back and the state shipping him off somewhere and he would never know what happened to them.

Sam recalled the one time Dean had to stay with him. They were hunting a succubus and their dad thought Dean would be a risk, so he benched him right along with Sam. Sam had thought it was the best afternoon he could remember. They had packed a Dean friendly snack basket, and Sam brought a book.  
He remembered Dean had become bored rather quickly. His stash of car magazines only held his interest for so long. He was turning sixteen soon and was sure John would hand over the keys to the Impala any day now. John had been saying how things would be easier if they had a second vehicle. Sam remembered he was sure it was just another way for John to pawn him off on Dean. He was sure once Dean had the car John would cut and run a hell of a lot more than he had been.

Sam would never forget that day. Dean’s magazine had only held his attention for so long, before boredom set in.His brother stretched out on the grass and laid his head on Sam’s lap and demanded Sam read to him. Sam remembered it was nice afternoon with Dean. John had had a successful hunt, and the night was one of the better nights they had all spent together.

As nice as that day had been, Sam also knew it was the beginning of the drama-fest that was to be his teen years. That was the first time Sam could recall making a decision to find a serious plan to get out of the life. He always thought Dean would go with him. In hindsight, he should have realized that Dean’s education came last in the list of priorities. It was sad, he had invested more into Sam’s education then he had his own. Sam knew Dean was smarter he pretended to be. The dumb act was one thing he didn't want Dean to pass on to the kids.

They wandered down the street until they found a small shop that  
looked promising. It was filled with clothes and a small assortment of kids’ furniture. Sam looked around the showroom and it reminded him of the fancy baby catalogues he and Dean would laugh at when they were younger. They never understood why someone would spend more on one outfit than they spent on their whole back to school wardrobe.

Sam wondered if their mom had shopped for them in places like that, where everything was meant to look just so precious on your child. Sam liked to think she had. He wished they had more pictures of their life together,before they took up hunting. Sam added “take plenty of photos of the boys” to his ever growing to do list. He was not surprised to see the boys pick jeans and tees for themselves. He stifled a laugh when he caught Gabriel and Dean both looking at the same miniature leather jacket that looked a hell of a lot like Dean’s old one.

“Dude, you would have lived in that if you had one,” Sam said, nodding at the jacket. 

“It’s crazy to spend that much money on a jacket he will outgrow,” Dean argued as he rubbed the sleeve between his fingers.

“Maybe it is, but, Dean, we have the money. If he outgrows it, then we stick it in a box for, I don’t know, maybe his kid. Man, we could donate it when it gets too small for him if it will make you feel better. He loves it; look at him. Tell me you wouldn’t have been all Billy Badass in that thing even at three.” Sam smirked as he pulled the jacket off the hanger.  
He bent down to eye level with Gabriel, and asked him, “Do you like this one?”

“That for me?” Gabriel asked, bouncing on his tiny toes.  
Sam grinned when he saw how excited he was. “If you want it, then yeah, it’s yours,”Sam told him. Gabriel kept a tight hold on the garment even as Sam picked him up so they could pay for their purchases. The boys were shy with the matronly woman behind the counter and Sam felt a small sigh of relief escape when he saw both boys smile at her.

“Cas, did you want a jacket like that?” Dean asked the toddler as he shifted him closer to the counter. Cas shook his head no. Sam figured if he changed his mind, they could always come back and get one. He thought it was another plus in the having a home that wasn’t on four wheels. He was happy to find that the Trendy Tot would also deliver everything else they would need for the boys.

Miss Sally, the woman behind the counter, offered to help them pick out the basics, when she realized that they were completely clueless about what to buy. Sam smiled, all dimples, at her when she told the boys she had grandbabies their age. He thought whatever her commission would be, she was earning every penny of it. She helped them pick out the essentials that her store carried, and then made them a list for the grocery and department store as well.

Sam nudged Dean to make sure he was watching when Cas shyly answered Miss Sally’s questions. Sam had been worried that Cas would have a harder time adjusting to being back and experiencing his first childhood. He figured that the circumstances had to be dire for Cas to willing do that to himself. He was thankful that he had done as much as he had to keep Dean safe.

Miss Sally was also a wealth of local information, and offered to help them with anything they wanted to know about the town. Sam watched as the boys waved to her as they left the shop.

“She seems sweet,” Sam mentioned to Dean.  
“She kind of reminds me of the fudging Christmas nutjob,” Dean whispered.

“Dude, not every perky woman over the age of fifty is her, or like her,” Sam replied in a huff.

They found Mac’s Diner and quickly headed inside. Sam wanted real food, and the aroma inside was heavenly. He could smell real home cooked food and not the cloying scent of grease, like they usually found in most places they ate.

“Dude, boyfriends,” Sam hissed and elbowed his brother in the ribs when he saw the hostess waving to them. She looked like someone had made her with Dean’s ideal woman in mind. She had shoulder length brown hair and warm smile. She also had a figure most women would kill for, a flat stomach with nice hips and very perky breasts. Sam waited for Dean to blow their cover and flirt with her.

“Sam, wait here,” Dean said as he nodded at a bench.  
Sam sat with a huff and pulled the boys close to him. “Daddy, will be right back,” he explained as he sat them on either side of him on the bench. Sam watched as Dean smiled at the women, as she called something back to the kitchen. The more Dean smiled and chatted up the hostess, the more Sam worried. He reminded himself that he really had no right to be upset. He and Dean weren’t really a couple. Gabriel, for reasons known only to him, had decided that they should be in a committed long term relationship. He had made the deal with the angel and Dean never got a say about what he wanted.

Sam was snapped out of his musing by the sight of Dean making his way back over to them, with bags in hand. Sam reminded himself that it wasn’t that long ago, that he was wishing for a bacon cheeseburger, and he should be thankful for whatever Dean had ordered. They walked quietly back to the house, having decided to split the bundles evenly, so they each had a kid and a bag. The walk home went quickly, neither of them wanted to wait for dinner.

Sam was surprised to see the food Dean pulled out of the bags while he got the boys settled at the table. A whole roasted chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, and biscuits. It smelled incredible. 

“Funny thing, Rachel, the hostess said they always have a few ‘dog house boxes,’ complete meals for us unlucky schmucks that screw up and piss off their wiiii... partners.” Dean grinned as he continued, “I told her how I fed the boys nothing but sugar all day and if I didn’t get some real food in them, you would not be happy with me.” Dean smiled at Sam.

“Dean, man, this smells great,” Sam stumbled around the almost declaration of whatever it was they now were to each other. He was glad the food tasted good and the boys seemed to agree with him. Dinner was spent with minimal conversation and was over rather quickly. It also didn't take long for them to get the boys washed and dressed in their new pajamas. 

Dean decided they should let the boys sleep in the living room one more night. The rigged up chair bed seemed safer than the twin bed upstairs.

Sam walked out onto the front porch and sat on the top step. He leaned back and looked up at the night sky. He heard the screen door creak open and knew Dean had finally found his way out there as well.

“I figure whatever has your skirt in a bunch should be discussed over a beer. The only problem is all we have is root beer, so I hope that will work, Francis,” Dean said as he handed Sam a can.

“Next time, I bribe the god of alcoholics to save your ass, the house will be stocked with booze,” Sam replied in a huff.

“Next time, it will be my turn to bribe the gods to save your ass. I will have to remember to keep a short list of the beer gods handy.” Dean clinked their cans in a toast.“Just in case…” He grinned at his brother.

Sam took a deep breath and continued, “Dean, how can you be so calm? Your life was changed and no one even bothered to ask you. How can you just accept this new life so easily? Man, this couldn't be what you pictured for yourself. You come home and get saddled with two kids and brother turned lover. You can’t tell me it’s what you want.”

Dean slowly blinked and asked Sam, “What are you so mad about, Sam? That our lives have been remapped? Hell, we both have had our share of changes over the years. You can’t tell me you are still holding out for the idealistic normal life you cooked up when you were fourteen. I hate to tell you, Sam, that is not going to happen. White picket fence lives aren’t for guys who have been to Heaven, Hell, and Lucifer's cage.  
Let’s not even bring hunting into the picture; we both have nightmares about that that border on night terrors. You were soulless, Sam, walking, talking, and fucking people without a goddamn soul.”

“Yeah, Dean, I get it, I am one fucked up person.” Sam sighed. He knew everything Dean had said was true; it just didn’t make it any less painful to hear.

“Sam, I didn’t say that to hurt your feelings. I just meant neither one of us should expect the normal life to be a good fit. I have just as much baggage as you do. Our kids in there, one was once mighty angel, turned damn near fallen angel, turned self proclaimed god, turned nut job. The other is a fucking archangel, turned pagan god imposter. They both are what, now, fallen angels? Hell, will they ever remember they are or were angels? Will they be like Anna and go crazy in a few years, thinking the hammer of God is going to smite them?” Dean asked his brother.

“So, what do we do now, Dean?” Sam asked.

“Sammy, my boy, now we admit that what we have may not be what most people think is normal, but it will be for us. We start fresh with the new lives we were given and see where our new normal leads us,” Dean honestly answered.

“Dean, how do we do that?” Sam asked him.

“Tomorrow we set the kids up in their own rooms. You and I get settled in the master bedroom. You figure out what you need for school. I was thinking, maybe I would be the new Bobby. Think about it, you and I do an awesome job of research. You’re better at it than I am, honestly I would rather go punch a fugly in the face than read about it. We can’t run into shit half cocked and blind, we have kids now. Who would we leave them with if something happened to us? Sam, that got me thinking. I may not be as good as you or Bobby, but I never had to be. I knew I could get either of you to do it. I bet there are more people like Garth, well not exactly like Garth, I hope.Then again, the average new hunter would be more like Garth then like us. Most hunters weren’t raised by someone like Dad,” Dean explained to him.

“Can you imagine a whole army of hunters just like Garth?” Sam shook his head as if that could erase the image in his mind. “I know you can do it, you always keep up with the hacks that get you the best porn and anime. Frank taught you some cool shit fairly easy. You know you can count on me to still help,” Sam watched as Dean nodded, he knew all of the emotional declarations were embarrassing him, so he decided to let Dean of the hook from anymore. “I think you still need to buy me something.” Sam batted his eyes at dean in a comical attempt at flirting.

“Oh yeah, your something special. What was that anyways?” Dean had almost forgotten about Sam’s earlier remark.

“You have to promise not to laugh, tease me, or hold this over my head, Dean.” Sam gave his brother his best “I am serious, bitch face.”

“I promise nothing, but I will make you tell me sooner or later so spill,” Dean challenged.  
Sam was rewarded with seeing Dean grin. It had to be the “I am so going to make you pay, Sam” smile. Sam was still happy to see it.

“I think we need a second car. One I can take to work and you know more about cars than I ever will. Dean, please buy me a car,” Sam asked him.

Dean stood up and grabbed Sam’s hand, pulling him up to stand beside him. “Sammy, I will make sure you have the perfect car. I think we need to go to bed; the kids will be up early. We have a full day of shopping and making this house ours. Sam, tomorrow we start our normal life, Daddy, Squatch, Cas, and Gabriel,” Dean told him as they walked into the house. 

For the first time since Dean returned Sam felt hopeful about their future. Sam knew that no matter what life threw at them, they would survive as long as they had each other.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Happy Late Bday, Vexed!!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1032867) by [kiramaru7](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiramaru7/pseuds/kiramaru7)




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